The World’s Most Populous Countries
Amherst, MA, 2003
This strange “lego”- like map is known as a cartogram, a diagram combining map and graph qualities. It distorts the size and shape of countries to portray their population (number of people) rather than their geographic territory (number of square miles).
Since this is a map about people, it has a totally different appearance than conventional maps. China and India occupy the most space because they have the largest populations. On the other hand, Russian Siberia and Canada, which cover large expanses of geographic territory, have much smaller populations and appear as narrow linear strips.